


Headcanons for Heavy-Handed

by Aard_Rinn



Series: Writ Large [2]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gen, Headcanon, No Cybertronian Civil War, Primal Vanguard, Technically in this universe, Twenty Five Hundred Words Later, although really it's like this in most of my non-war universes, fuck me i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:54:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24188485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aard_Rinn/pseuds/Aard_Rinn
Summary: General headcanons for the particular world of my no-civil-war story, where Megatron was a General, Optimus was a cop, and things are slowly getting better.So far:- Primal Vanguard- Lord High Protector- The Primal ascent
Series: Writ Large [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1744648
Comments: 24
Kudos: 36





	1. Headcanons About the Primal Vanguard

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quetzalpapalotl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quetzalpapalotl/gifts), [gatekat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatekat/gifts), [Gemma_Inkyboots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemma_Inkyboots/gifts), [raisedbymoogles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raisedbymoogles/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Knight Aspirant](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10902939) by [Gemma_Inkyboots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemma_Inkyboots/pseuds/Gemma_Inkyboots), [raisedbymoogles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raisedbymoogles/pseuds/raisedbymoogles). 



> This is literally just a headcanon dump. Read at your own risk. Italics are things that are specifically applicable to the universe Heavy-Handed is set in, and to Optimus as Prime; regular text is general headcanons about what the Vanguard do. Feel free to nick whatever you want from either section; HMU if you're using anything in particular, I'd love to read it.
> 
> I will, with a grim acceptance of inevitability, probably write at least Mirage's section from this at some point. Possibly some stuff about Jazz and Red Alert, too. I am weak, and apparently White_Aster can't say the words "Primal Vanguard" without me disgorging 2500 words of headcanons like an upset heron, so honestly at this point expect that if they comment, whatever they write about will probably wind up getting written too.

What is the Vanguard? It’s a select group of bodyguards loyal only to the Prime, at its core. Everything else it does is as a function of that.

When a Prime dies, his Vanguard protect the Matrix until a new Prime is named, and then while the new Prime recovers from their ascension. Once he’s able, which may take a few orn depending on the circumstances of the last Prime’s death and his own ascension, the Vanguard are, to a mech, dismissed. They receive generous pensions, but are expected to leave Iacon, or wherever the Prime has set up his base of power - they can return, but not live there. This is to prevent conflicts between the old Prime’s authority and the new.

_Optimus’ ascension was a mess - the Matrix did a bit more of a hack job than usual reformatting him, since it was rebuilding an ordinary mech to a warbuild in anticipation of the Quintesson War. It took several orns for him to be able to even begin considering his own Vanguard - he had already met a lot of them by then._

Some of the old Vanguard, a handful, hand-chosen, will be approached by the new Prime and offered spots in his Vanguard. It’s considered a rare honor, and if they feel they can serve him as loyally as their last Prime, they will accept - it isn’t a stain on their honor to refuse, it just means their loyalty to their last Prime was beyond reproach.

_Kup is the best example of this - he has been Vanguard for four Primes. There was never any real question Optimus would pick him - for whatever reason, the Matrix always leads the new Primes back to Kup. He’s as much a mentor as a Vanguard, and helps them pick other mechs that will work well for the posting._

_Ironhide also carried over, as did Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. Bluestreak was freshly-named, not even trained, when Sentinel died, and Optimus brought him on as well. There were around two dozen he eventually brought back on as part of his new Vanguard._

_Thundercracker was offered a position, but he had already been courting Skywarp and Starscream as Trine before Sentinel died, and had planned to seek Sentinel’s approval to bond them. He declined, and accepted Optimus’ blessing to go and bond them; Megatron gave him a commission under Starscream in the Air Force, and he left civilian service to the Primacy altogether._

This core of experienced Vanguard will begin training new members pretty much right away. Usually, the close friends of the pre-ascension Prime will be named immediately, to boost the numbers of the Vanguard quickly; after that, the Prime may approach members of the military, guards he met during his ascension, ask the Lord High Protector for advice - basically whatever he wants to get the numbers back up to around a hundred.

_Ariel and Dion both reformatted; Ariel to a war-framed femme build, and Dion to a tank. Ariel took on the name Elita-1 with her reformat, Dion didn’t change his. Red Alert, who Optimus knew as a coordinator from his days in the Iacon Police, agreed to take on a commission as head of security, but refused a reformat - he did have several new busses added to his processor, however, and his own frame was reinforced. Megatron recommended several dozen soldiers, and Optimus interviewed them extensively, selecting a double handful for the Vanguard._

The Prime really does have sole control over the mechs he selects for the Vanguard. He can name anyone, though they are free to accept or decline without censure. It can be a big event, or informal; he can select one at a time, or a dozen. It’s one of the few rights of the Prime that has never been controlled by the Senate or Council in any way. 

_When Drift was busy panicking over Ratchet, that’s where Jazz went. Megatron liked him, and suggested him, but the datapad was Optimus’ offer, sight-unseen, to take Drift into the Vanguard. It was a big show of trust in his Lord High Protector._

The members of the Vanguard are unflinchingly, painstakingly trustworthy. To accuse a member of the Vanguard of betraying the Prime is treason, if you are incorrect - and it will come out quickly that you are wrong, because the Prime’s first right as head of the Vanguard is to the sparks of his chosen mechs. He can, at any time, demand they prove their loyalty in a merge. It’s the first thing that’s done while inducting new members, and the Matrix <i>destroys</i> the disloyal - shreds their processors and snuffs their sparks, providing everything they’ve done to the Prime for perusal. 

_It’s not traumatic like an ordinary merge might be - the Matrix is warm and inviting, and as long as the mech merging with it is still loyal, there’s no pain or particular stress involved. It can be nerve-wracking, though, if the Vanguard in question isn’t confident - there’s often a niggling fear that they’ve somehow failed the Prime in the immediate lead-up to a merge. That said, the aftermath is inevitably relief and comfort - the Matrix can’t be deceived, and mechs called to the Vanguard typically find comfort in knowing that it has judged them worthy._

_When it backlashes, it doesn’t just destroy the mech - it rebounds on the Prime, not in full, but it’s pretty traumatic. On the handful of occasions it has happened - always, for Optimus, in the initial merge, he’s never had an existing Vanguard betray him - usually Ironhide and Mirage or Elita-1 will corner him, and persuade him to merge with a whole group of volunteers, to reassure himself. Otherwise he’ll think about it too much, obsess over it, and get reluctant to merge when he has to._

The Vanguard are not just guards - the role elevates them to the status of the nobility, not just a knighthood but almost the equivalent of being adopted by the king in many human societies. No noblemech can place themselves above a Vanguard, because the Vanguard only answer to the Prime. Originally, this was to protect them in their service to the Prime - now, it’s a large part of the utility of the position.

The Prime can censure a Vanguard at any time. Not just for disloyalty - for shaming him, for failing to uphold the rank, for cowardice, whatever he wants. Usually, this means exile; it can be anything up to and including death. The Vanguard belong to their Prime, spark, frame, and processors - crueler Primes have been abusive, and a mech who is Vanguard has no protection. 

_Optimus is considered almost breathtakingly fair, as Primes go. Even more rational Primes tended to lash out, on occasion; the Vanguard give the most erratic something to rage against. The mechs of the Vanguard don’t gossip - they have their own medics, and there have been plenty of Primes who have left the broken frames of their own bodyguards in their wakes._

Similarly, a Vanguard is expected to bring major life events to the Prime’s attention. He is expected to seek the Prime’s permission before bonding, reformatting, sparking - another aspect of the Prime’s control over the position. That said, a mech who is part of the Vanguard has privileges in these areas, too. Since the Vanguard are first and foremost bound to the Prime, with the Prime’s blessing, they can seek a bond with any mech, regardless of rank, lower or higher. A Vanguard who is given permission to reformat has the entire empire’s resources at their disposal - if it can be done within the constraints of their spark’s ability to bear it, it will be done, and the Matrix can, to a certain extent, strengthen a spark if the Prime wills it. A sparkling approved by the Prime will be blessed, not only by the Prime’s prayers but with everything it needs to develop strongly; if it is to be called from Vector Sigma, the Prime will typically call it himself.

_Mirage came to Optimus like this - he was being forced into a bond he didn’t want, and requested an audience with the Prime in secret, away from his family’s audials, and then, when it was granted, threw himself at the Prime’s pedes and requested that Optimus intercede, swearing his undying loyalty in return. Naming him to the Vanguard was the only method at his disposal that didn’t involve insulting one or both of the involved noble houses - and it left Mirage conveniently free to hesitantly introduce Optimus to his non-noble lover, once Mirage finally relaxed enough from a lifetime of abuse to trust his Prime._

_His House didn’t like it - and Optimus doesn’t particularly care for Mirage’s House, after how badly Mirage was treated - but it’s a huge honor to be able to say one of your creations is a member of the Vanguard, and it was, strictly speaking, a social promotion for Mirage. There was nothing they could do to protest when Optimus approved the Bonding, either._

Assaulting a member of the Vanguard is considered the same as assaulting the person of the Prime. It gets a very unpleasant death - usually torture, interrogation, and then, if they have reason after all that to suspect you intended any sort of harm to Cybertron or the Prime, execution by spark-merge, so the Matrix can pull information about any co-conspirators out of you.

_Optimus has never had to do one of these - Megatron has, without fail, sent Jazz to assassinate any and every mech for whom it might be necessary before it can come to that. It is one of the few points of real bitterness between him and the Vanguard - generally, they like him well enough, but they’d really like to have that information on who is trying to kill the Prime, and Jazz is a very, very good assassin. He does generally hack anything he can get out of them, if he has time - Optimus wouldn’t approve, but he doesn’t work for Optimus - so on the one hand, it behooves them to give him plenty of time alone with his target, rather than pursuing him aggressively… But on the other, it’s a blow to professional pride, and definitely threatening, that they’ve never managed to keep a prisoner alive long enough for the Prime to interrogate - no matter how many Vanguard are assigned to keep watch._

_Jazz is a close personal friend of Optimus’, and that is literally the only reason that a heroic Vanguard hasn’t sacrificed their life to walk up to Jazz and plug him in the spark. If it wouldn’t destroy the Prime, it would 100% be worth getting executed for._

Needless to say, a commission in the Vanguard is a favored boon, not just during the festivals but for anyone who earns a boon from the Prime. It comes with a hefty salary, a pension, a residence in the palace, access to everything that implies - libraries, medical care, fancy baths, ect. If you aren’t fighting fit, they will make you fighting fit - reformatting into the Vanguard is common even for military frames. They will teach you to fight. The loyalty and strength of character is what are selected for, and everything else can come after.

_That’s why Megatron was so quick to contact Optimus and persuade him to accept Drift, even outside the festival. They’d heard a lot about Drift’s character from Ratchet, and seen his courage - even without watching him fight, Megatron knew he would be a good candidate. But there’s no application for it - outside of catching the Prime’s attention, or being suggested by one of his close comrades or another member of the Vanguard - so Optimus, at least, tends to jump on good candidates quickly. It’s a constant struggle to get the numbers up, in a lot of ways - training a new Vanguard takes time, and it’s a neverending process for mechs like Kup._

_Other Primes have done it differently - some do take applicants, leaving it to members of the Vanguard or even the military to screen them; others pick from the Army, others take a creation from every noble House. The Matrix ensures all are loyal, so it doesn’t make too much of a difference - but the selection process both reflects and shapes the Primacy, influencing in a lot of ways who influences the Prime. A military Vanguard suits and shapes a militaristic Prime; a Vanguard pulled from the nobility in many ways heralds a strengthened Senate and Council. Optimus has a very small Vanguard, for how long he’s been Prime, but they’re all hand-picked, and the fact that they love and support him for what he’s done for them strengthens him._

Once you’re in, they find a posting for you. Most are within the palace, which is entirely guarded by Vanguard commanding small groups of military mechs hand-picked by the Lord High Protector. Some - chosen for how well they get on socially with the Prime - work more closely with him, as manservants and personal aides. Those who the Prime personally dislikes - not necessarily for character faults, just because of clashing personalities sometimes - work further out, at rarely-visited Primal estates, or in other cities. A few, whose talents lie in that direction, work as spies or counter-ops, collecting information to help keep the Prime safe.

_In this world, Ironhide works as an aide to the Prime. Ironhide is the head of his Vanguard, and plays the role of close-bodyguard as well as assistant, in addition to leading the team whenever Optimus needs to travel outside the palace. He’s coordinator, team leader, servant, and shield, all in one._

_Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Trailbreaker all have personalities that complement the Primes, so they work closely with him, too, guarding the areas he spends most of his time. They’re meant to be frame-guardians, but they follow orders, too - for example, if he needs someone summoned, or a message carried. They never work in less than pairs, and one will always remain to back up Ironhide. There are about sixty mechs who fill this position. Trailbreaker has a unique roll, because of his sigma-gift - he accompanies the Prime to outdoor events and guards him while he sleeps, ready to use his shield to protect the Prime from a sniper shot, outdoors, or an explosion while he’s sleeping._

_Plenty of mechs work from “exile”, although Optimus doesn’t like to think about it like that. Star Saber is fiercely loyal, but his attitude and reverence grate - he’s stationed on Luna-2, which he and Optimus both prefer. Most of the mechs in this position have similar issues - Optimus doesn’t like being worshipped, but his predecessor did, and so a lot of his carry-over mechs are too reverent for his tastes._

_Mirage and Hound both work as counter-ops. Mirage ranges, keeping an ear to the ground, liaising with Jazz and Soundwave, mixing effortlessly back into the nobility to look for assassination plots; Hound stays close, using his sigma-gift to detect bombs and traps, and his holomatter generator to hide Optimus if someone takes a shot at him. He swaps off with Trailbreaker when Trailbreaker is unable to work. Since they’re bonded, Mirage passes sensitive information off to him to be shared with the Prime. Both are part of a rare group that merges with Optimus on a frequent basis - not to ensure their loyalty so much as to share important information in a way that is completely unimpeachable._

_Red Alert manages security, not just within the palace, but at events across Cybertron. His pre-Vanguard partner and bonded, Inferno, was a later addition to the Vanguard - Red Alert wanted to be sure that his loyalty was without question, and that he could assist him in his role without putting the Prime at risk._


	2. Headcanons About the Lord High Protector

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aha! quetzalpapalotl, the FOOL, thought that they could ask me a perfectly reasonable question and not get a chapter book in reply! Well, a fie upon THAT shit. Clearly, my degree of unemployment is being tragically underestimated!
> 
> Anyways, for realsies, thanks so much for the question, and this goes out to you! Keep them coming, I guess, these are kind of fun and easy to write, and I have no probs fleshing this world out a bit!

The Lord High Protector is a military position, as much as a social and cultural one. When a Prime dies, his Lord High Protector - if he survived whatever killed his Prime, which isn’t a given - takes custody of the Matrix, as well as assuming the Prime’s duties until the new Prime can be found. The Vanguard assist him in this, guarding him and it during the search. When the new Prime is located, the Lord High Protector presents him with the Matrix, and immediately resigns the post.

_ There are many Primal Candidates at any given point - typically, the Lord High Protector will return with the Matrix to Iacon and begin the search there. This is one of the ways the Senate have attempted to control the process over the vorns - they can’t directly interfere, the Prime and Protector would never allow it, but by ensuring that the search begins in Iacon, they maximize chances that the Prime will be a sympathetic noble. Sentinel, the Prime before Optimus, was selected because of this. _

_ Optimus was a lucky one-off - he was an officer responding to the bomb that killed Sentinel in Polyhex. Because it was so far from Iacon, the handful of surviving Vanguard had to rely on local officers to help them search the rubble. Optimus was the mech to find the grievously-injured Lord High Protector, who had just time to pass on the Matrix he had recovered from Sentinel’s frame before succumbing to his injuries. The Vanguard immediately spirited him off to Iacon for his ascension. _

The Prime then begins the ascension - the complicated religious rituals and physical changes induced by the Matrix that will result in a Prime. As this happens, all of the military officials that can be gathered above a certain rank assemble, and once the Prime takes his new name, they are presented to him. The Matrix guides him in selecting one of them as the Lord High Protector.

It’s very much a thing the Matrix chooses, however. Unlike the Prime, where it’s widely accepted that there are a wide number of Primal Candidates at any one time and really the Matrix just picks the first one presented to it, there’s only one mech who can be Lord High Protector to a given time - the Matrix chooses the best fit for the Prime it knows it’s working with, and won’t change that selection unless the previous choice dies. So if the Lord High Protector-to-be is offworld, or can’t make it to the assembly, there’s sort of a desperate scramble to get everyone who wasn’t there in front of the Prime ASAP, because there won’t be a Protector until they find him. Usually, it’s a war-time problem, where generals have to be cycled in off the fronts until the Lord High Protector is found. 

_ There have been one or two instances where a Protector is not found. The military structure is able to deal with this - the Lord General of the Prime’s Armies is the Lord High Protector’s direct subordinate and handles most of the day-to-day tasks of implementing the Lord High Protector’s vision, so he works closely with the Prime in the Protector’s stead - but it’s not a comforting reality for anyone. On one occasion, a replacement Protector was never found after the Protector died in service to their Prime - the Prime reigned for another fifty vorns alone in peacetime, but it lead to a weakened status in the intergalactic community that brought invasion with the ascension of the next Prime. In another, the Prime never found any Protector, and the Senate manipulated him ruthlessly in the early days of his reign - it led to a stripping of Primal authority that Cybertron is still recovering from. _

If a Lord High Protector dies in service to their Prime, the same thing happens - although, with an existing Prime, it’s less rushed. With a new Prime, it’s critical that the posting be filled immediately, since the Protector’s experience and knowledge are what guides the new Prime until he has experience with politics and governance. That’s why Protectors suggest the new Vanguard - usually from among their troops or trusted allies, although once you join the Vanguard, you have to leave the army because your only loyalty can be to the Prime. 

_ Megatron suggested most of Optimus’ early Vanguard - they gave him a strong core of powerful physical protectors to build off of. Once there were around seventy-five, he eased off, though he remains involved in directing particularly talented mechs, or mechs with unique Sigma abilities, to the Vanguard. _

There are complementary and contrasting Primes and Protectors. Usually, an inexperienced Prime will have an experienced Protector who can nurture them into the role, guiding them through political subterfuge and the nuances of running a planet - a political Prime will typically have a less-experienced Protector who can better mold to his Prime’s needs. If the Prime and Protector agree with each other politically, and compliment each other well, they can be a terror, pushing broad, sweeping social change - society holds steady when the Prime and Protector are at odds. 

_ Megatron and Optimus compliment each other well. Optimus was a beat cop when he ascended - no knowledge of politics or governance - and Megatron was already a famous General, well-positioned to support him. Both knew poverty, and how hard it could be to rise above it; Megatron was forged a miner, then a gladiator, before he found a lord’s favor in the arena and earned his military reformat, and Optimus had seen enough of suffering on the streets of Polyhex, and in Ratchet’s clinic, to understand the traps poverty set for it’s victims. They like each other personally and work well together professionally, and that has enabled them to reclaim a lot of the historic powers of the Primacy that the Council and Senate have eroded. _

_ Sentinel and his Protector were different, in some ways. Sentinel was already a noble before the Matrix chose him; he understood how to govern, and had trusted allies in the Senate to handle the politics of the position. His Protector was a Field Officer, barely ranked high enough to be presented - but talented, and Sentinel shaped him in his image, as the powerful military leader to implement Sentinel’s expansionist policies. _

If the Prime and Protector die together, the Head of the Vanguard takes the Matrix, and protects it until the new Prime is found. Typically, they will take the rank of Nominal Protector during this period, and serve as leader of Cybertron as a Protector would - the Head of the Vanguard tends to be a position that calls to mechs well-suited for such things, since it’s a leadership role. However, often the same event that kills Prime and Protector gets them, too, and often most of the nearby Vanguard. Any member of the Vanguard can take possession of the Matrix, since they’re all trusted beyond reproach - but once someone has it, they can  _ only _ hand it off to the next Prime. This has lead to some awkward cases where a neophyte member of the Vanguard has been the only survivor of an attack and been stuck with the Matrix - they wouldn’t take up the role of Nominal Protector, though.

_ Megatron was already a powerful figure before he took the rank of Lord High Protector - he had risen through the military to the position of Lord General of the Prime’s Armies, second only to the Lord High Protector. He was already in Iacon when the attack happened in Polyhex, and took the role of Nominal Protector as soon as word was passed down that the Prime, Protector and Head of the Vanguard had all died, before it was even known that a new Prime had been found. For Optimus, there was no assembly, and no need - by the time he reached Iacon, word had arrived that the new Prime had been found already, and Megatron was waiting to meet with him and govern until he took up his new name. The wait, as it turns out, was more ritual than anything - as soon as they met, the Matrix selected Megatron as Lord High Protector, even though the new Prime was still only Orion Pax. _

_ A lifetime from now, Optimus Prime dies on a battlefield, bereft of all of his Vanguard except Ultra Magnus, who was commissioned only a few days earlier, though he has been the Prime’s loyal right hand for a lifetime. Megatron is a world away. Vanguard Magnus takes the Matrix from his grey frame, and it speaks to him, turns his gaze, helplessly, to the mech who will be Rodimus Prime, and offers it, and his devotion. It is enough. Rodimus flees the dying ruins of Cybertron with the Matrix beating in his chest and only one Vanguard - the end of an age of Primes.  _

On two occasions, no one has survived to recover the Matrix. The Primes were new, and hadn’t built up their Vanguard yet, and the entire existing Vanguard died in the attacks that killed them. In both cases, the Matrix selected the mech who found it. It’s strongly believed that the Matrix directly influenced who found it - in both cases, it went pretty well for Cybertron in general. 

_ Nocturnus Prime was a thief - a straight-up cat burglar. After a huge portion of the Primal Estate was bombed into submission, killing the new Prime, his Protector, and all their Vanguard, the Matrix disappeared, lost somewhere in the ruined shell of the building. Nocturne - who would be Nocturnus - snuck past the patrols guarding the ruins to see what he could steal in the way of damaged riches, expecting off-world fabrics, rare metals, energon… He found instead an artifact that would define the rest of his long life. _

Similarly, there have been one or two cases where a Protector ascended - in times of great strife, plucking the Matrix from their Prime’s fallen frame on a battlefield and arising as Warrior-Primes. They tend to live short lives, finishing the conflict and dying shortly thereafter, usually peacefully - the need is great, when the Matrix calls them, but it is a hard life, and the death is as much a mercy as a curse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, if you want to know about stuff, HMU i guess because I'm slowly losing control of my life. Love y'all tho, the comments mean a ton and are basically the only social interaction i've got these days so feel free to chatter.


	3. Headcanons for the Primal Ascent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So gatekat asked me to write a bit more about Optimus and Megatron's early vorns in this universe! This isn't that, but I am slowly fleshing things out to see if that's a larger story I'd be interested in writing - I added a lot more stuff about the exact process of becoming a Prime, as well as some pretty specific stuff about how it went for Optimus in particular. I don't guarantee it'll 100% synch with a full story, just because of how much is involved in fleshing out a full-length narrative, but the broad brushstrokes will most likely carry over, so this one's for you!
> 
> Also, I want to give a shout-out to Gemma_Inkyboots and raisedbymoogles' fic Knight Aspirant, and it's surrounding stories, for a) being one of the most lovely and intriguing headcanons I've ever encountered for the Primacy, and b) being where I nicked Sentinel's referring to Optimus as "best of Primes" from - it's not a thing in this world for folks to call him that, or anything, but I felt I should make it clear that that's what I'm shouting out! Seriously, their lore with the Psychopomps is amazing, and absolutely everyone should read it. 
> 
> Also, I have had a p. crushing migraine while working on this, so HMU if anything is wildly incoherent.

The selection of a new Prime is a complicated process, for all that it is short - each new ascension marks the beginning of a new era on Cybertron.

At the death of the previous Prime, once it has been claimed by either Lord High Protector or Vanguard, the Matrix activates. It is an ancient and powerful artifact, tied directly via quantum-bond to the processors of Primus far beneath the planet’s surface, and on it’s activation, the sleeping god rouses. Not fully - His true awakening would be unmistakable, a signal that Unicron could not mistake even across the vast void of space - but a little, the deep dreams of other universes that hold Him slipping away for a time.

He knows all sparks which He has kindled, as intimately as any being might - recalls them, catalogued at the moment they sprang forth from His spark. He loves them all - but they are imperfect. Only a handful are fitted to lead His people, powerful enough to bear the weight of the Matrix and the bond it shares with Him.

They are sparks of love, and joy, and beauty, the ones who are worthy. Not just fragments of Him, reflecting the virtues of one finger or a few on His Hand, but complete, bearing the blessings of Adaptus and Epistemus, Solumnus and Prima. Only Mortilus’ blessing is absent, the rebel spark, nemesis, hiding it’s darkness in the Lord High Protector so as not to dim the other four’s light.

_ It is not that Mortilus is not wholly Primus, or that Primus loves him any less - Prima sends his newforged sparks out to find beauty in life, but Mortilus sends them _ back _ to him, where he can ease the pains of existence and slake them in his love before they are sent out to live again. But Mortilus knows things about life on Cybertron that would stir Primus from his slumber, things too painful for the sleeping god to bear - so he stays apart, a little, protecting Primus from the truth of his creation, and blessing Protectors to guard his Primes. _

The Matrix calls out to Him, and draws from His processor a list. It contains the spark signature of every mech eligible for the Primacy that has not already rejoined Him in the Well - every Primal Candidate.

_ It isn’t a long list - such sparks are rare. Forty, maybe sixty at a time, spread across the world, are truly eligible to ascend - another ten thousand have sparks that could bear it, but are unfit for some other reason. An existing bond that the Matrix would not seek to supersede, a less-than-ideal frametype, a spark that would not enjoy the Primacy, some other nebulous criteria - the Matrix  _ could _ choose them, but it would not choose them  _ first.

The Lord High Protector, or the Vanguard, go seeking. The Matrix, too, searches - and when it first identifies an eligible mech, it speaks. Cracking open, casting out light, singing the new Prime’s name to the mech bearing it in holy recognition, it chooses it’s new host and is presented. 

_ The search isn’t usually a long one. Less than a vorn, often, though three or four vorns is common. A decavorn is on the outer edge of what is common. The Matrix doesn’t differentiate between the mechs on it’s short list - once it’s determined that you are a potential Prime, physical proximity to the Matrix is what draws it’s focus. In this, it can be manipulated, to a point - put it in a room with a thousand nobles, and if any of them are eligible, it will choose them. Put it in a room with miners, and if any of them are eligible, it will choose them. It is not often put in a room with miners. _

_ The touch of the opened Matrix, even only in the act of presenting it to a Prime, gives the wielder a thin tie to the dreaming Primus - often, the presentation is accompanied by visions, or a prophecy, though whether or not the message is shared is up to the presenter. Sentinel’s Lord High Protector had one, about Optimus; his last and only words to the new Prime beyond the presentation were “I am pleased to have met you, best of Primes. Go forth into war, and out of it, and spare the world our foolishness.”  _

There are flaws, of course. Primus knows the sparks he sends forth, and the ones who return to him. So far from his spark, however, and in the drowse of his eternal slumber, he does not know them in the between-time - and thus arises the cruelty of the Primes. They are sparked perfect, but life is imperfect, and no mech is only a spark - the word shapes them, and teaches them unkindness, and shows them corruption. They become corrupted by it, and the world conspires to corrupt them further.

Most are not terrible, but many are.

_ There are those who benefit greatly from a cruel Prime, or an absent one, or one so caught-up in the pleasures of the frame that he forgets his duty to Cybertron. The Matrix tries, links them to Primus, but as long as Primus sleeps he has no great influence over his Primes, and those with power - the nobility, the Council, the Senate - take great pleasure in seducing the Primes away from his light. Gifts, courtesans, engex, slaves - all are distractions in the hands of mechs wealthy enough to use them, and with every inch the Prime falls, those in power cement their authority and erode his. _

_ Some Primes have gone too far - fallen too quickly - and not even their corruptors could control them. They warp Cybertron itself, bringing pain and suffering to her people, poisoning the energon wells and cooling the hot spots by their very natures. Their names are struck out by the Priesthood, the Dark Primes, and the Matrix reclaimed and given to another - this, too, is the role of the Lord High Protector. _

_ It is not all bad. Where some are corrupted by the world, others flourish by it - the flaws teaching them the value of justice, of mercy, of kindness. They are the best Primes, their sparks a salve to Primus and the world. _

Once a Prime is selected, they are brought to the Primal Estates, and the temples within. It can be a hard time for them - the bond with the Matrix is powerful, can be overwhelming, and the artifact itself is changing them. It carves new processor pathways, channels down which it’s divine power can flow; sometimes, it adds new processor branches altogether, giving a weak-processored Prime the mind he will need for his duties. It reformats the frame, adding armor, strength, speed, repairing old damage and adding new systems as it sees fit; power busses, subspace generators, datahubs. It warps the spark; a Prime’s spark is a vast and powerful thing, fueled by the merged Spark of Primus through the Matrix, but such a merge isn’t without consequence. 

It is an exquisitely painful process, made bearable only by the love that shines through the Matrix.

_ Optimus was lucky - he was found quickly, and brought to the temple in safety, under the care of Priests from the moment he was chosen. There was nothing they could do to stymie the pain, but the ritual of it, the careful, well-planned cycles of prayer they could teach him before the true ascension took hold, gave him something to focus on past the pain, a meditation, of sorts. It is a common thing for noble Primes to have access to, there are always Priests accompanying the Matrix when it is formally being presented, but most mecha who are chosen before the return to Iacon are not so fortunate, and must face the Matrix alone. _

When it is done, the Matrix strips away the Prime’s old name, and leaves a new one in its place. The old name remains as less than a shadow - the person the Prime was existed, but memories of life before become hazy, not just to the Prime, but to all who knew him. He will never have the instinctive response to that name again; it is no longer his name but that of a mech he once knew.

_ The Prime’s new name is symbolic, always. Optimus’ held true to the prophecy of his presentation - best of Primes. Sentinel expanded the territories of the Cybertronian Empire in the wake of Quintesson incursions, his attention outward on the distant skies. Nocturne worked in darkness, his servants assassins, cutting down the coiling razorwire of corruption threatening the powers of the Primacy. Nominus was Prime in name, but never in deed, a servant to the Senate. Rodimus will be Cybertron’s talons, clawing for victory in the face of Unicron’s return - and should he fail, Tandem Prime will be the last of Cybertron’s Primes, as well as a fucking hilarious name for a Gestalt Prime, I’m not even sorry for breaking tone to point out how good a pun it is. _

With that, the Primal ascension is complete. A new Prime reigns on Cybertron. 

There’s more to it than that, of course. The Prime is Prime from the moment the Matrix acknowledges them - it’s a cultural and social norm that says they don’t rule until they receive their new name. Part of the reason is practical - announcing the Prime’s old name means it’s possible for mechs to seek power by using the Prime’s old friends and loved ones, and the Prime isn’t really fit to lead until the pain of ascension has faded. The other is due to outside influence - by delaying the start of a new Primacy by even a vorn, groups like the Council and Senate can push their own authority and ready themselves to manipulate the new Prime.

_ Optimus is lucky, in this - the Matrix chose Megatron because he was the best fit for the position, but also because he was close, through provenance or luck. Orion was still Orion, when they met, but he was Prime, and the Matrix chose Megatron right there and then, shielding the pair from the worst of the Senate’s meddling. It gave Megatron the authority of a Lord High Protector, not just Nominal Protector, even if the Senate refused to publicly acknowledge the title until after Optimus was named - and they knew they couldn’t manipulate him too much, since he wouldn’t quietly vanish after Optimus took power. _

Some Primes don’t undergo a full ascention. The Warrior-Primes never do - the Matrix grants them minor reformats, and it’s still painful, but it doesn’t touch their sparks or processors; they typically claim the Matrix in battle, are upgraded in a flash of light, a rolling voice in the processors of all around them declares their new name as Prime, and go on to finish the fight. As former-Protectors, they already have most of the pathways needed to commune with the Matrix - the lack of a complete ascension cripples their connection to Primus, however, and he releases them when the task they were chosen for is done. Primes like Nocturnus, who are chosen under duress to the Matrix, receive sped-up ascensions, more painful but safer.

_ Nocturne pulled the Matrix from the rubble of the Primal Estate and didn’t even know what it was - but it spoke to him, and told him he would be Prime. He was afraid - a thief who had stolen something too rare and dangerous, something he would never be allowed to keep - and he ran, as far and as fast as he could. By the time the artifact began to change him, he had hidden, tucking himself away in an old safehouse on the other side of Iacon.  _

_ The ascension happened quickly - he was frightened, the Matrix had only his fears to inform it of what might happen if they were caught before he had a name, so it sped through it, scouring pathways, reformatting quickly, burning his spark with the energy of the merge. It was uniquely painful among ascensions, and the agony of it never left him even after the pain faded - it made him wary of the Matrix and the Priesthood. His frame reformatted, but the tiny slip of a safehouse restricted that too - he was the smallest Prime by a good measure, even compared to those who had been minibots. _

_ By the time he was found - by the Enforcer who would be his first Vanguard - he was half-crippled by agony, almost helpless to move, with neural overcharge blinding him and half his sensors - but he was a Prime, indisputably. _

Under ordinary circumstances, once the Prime is fully-ascended, he has many duties to secure his power base, some religious, others secular. He must choose new Vanguard, and begin rebuilding their numbers; he must find his Protector. He meets with the Priesthood, to communicate his initial intentions to them and allow them to begin molding to meet his needs, and with the Senate, to familiarize himself with them. The Council, influential mechs from across Cybertron chosen by the Senate, begin to educate him on the politics of the position, and the agencies of the Prime - the various governmental bodies that handle the day to day runnings of the planet - send representatives to work as aides, giving him a direct channel of communications with them. The Hand of the Prime - the head of Cybertronian Black-Ops - and the Lord General of the Prime’s Armies both also meet with him, to update him on threats to Cybertron’s security; they will report to him until a Protector is chosen to take over the duty. 

_ Optimus was lucky, in a lot of ways - he had already met a Vanguard he trusted enough to take on as head of his Vanguard; Ironhide pulled him away from the dead Protector’s frame, Matrix still burning blue in his chest, and carried him to safety. He had already found a Protector, one who was experienced enough to manage the military and had enough political experience to corral the Senate. The Priesthood, who Sentinel had, to a certain extent, neglected, were eager for the guidance of a more-devout Prime, and even before his ascension, Orion had been religious. _

_ The Senate and Council hated him, of course. Sentinel had, for all that he was a good Prime, been one of them, a noblemech steeped in the classist views of the nobility - Optimus was a commoner, and while they couldn’t take back the Primacy, they could undermine his confidence. Megatron was essential in pushing back the worst of their meddling, occasionally rising to the level of threatening those who didn’t yield to simple intimidation - as Protector, he might be subordinate to the Prime, but his actions were protected beyond reproach in the Prime’s defense. _

_ Optimus met with Jazz several times, although Jazz had already strolled in and made himself comfortable with Megatron by the time Optimus had recovered enough to meet him for the first. It was an unprecedented, though private, display of disrespect - one many Primes would have had him executed for - to bypass the Prime so completely, and Jazz was honestly ready for it when he met with Optimus the first time. Optimus brushed away his half-hearted apology, and dismissed his explanations, though - told Jazz he trusted him, and that he was sure Jazz had acted for the good of Cybertron. _

_ He won Jazz’s spark-deep loyalty, and his friendship, with that. Jazz  _ had _ acted for Cybertron - in the wake of Sentinel’s assassination, he needed to coordinate with  _ someone _ to protect the new Prime, and even though he knew it could cost him his life, he approached the Lord High Protector. It wouldn’t have been a big deal at all, if Megatron had still been the Nominal Protector, but the Matrix naming him turned it into a deadly trap; he could not ignore the threat to the Primacy, even if it cost him his life at the Prime’s displeasure. _

_ Strika, the Lord General of the Prime’s Armies, was in an only-slightly less awkward position - she had taken on Megatron’s role, and been named by him as his successor. She and he had worked together for centuries, however, and so they carefully avoided each other for proprieties’ sake until she could meet with Optimus. Usually, the meeting with the Lord General was a chance to see if he would be a Protector as much as to learn about the army, so once they met, things progressed well - they chatted amicably, and she gave him a brief overview of the military status of Cybertron, and then he left everything up to Megatron, since there was no long-term need for him to worry about it. _

It is a whirlwind of meetings, one almost designed to be exhausting, but it’s necessary - the Prime can’t lead without information, and Cybertron is a vast and complicated network to govern.

Once that’s done, and the Prime has settled in, there is a Primal Tour - the Prime visits each of the many City-States across Cybertron, being presented to the people and meeting with the local governments. The nature of the Primal Tour varies, by Prime - some love to meet their new subjects, others are more officious; some wish to dine with the nobility in every state, some eschew banquets for privacy; some greet the leaders of their new City-States as allies and others with hostility - but planning begins the moment a Prime is selected by the Matrix, the details fine-tuned as his servants develop an understanding of his needs. The Protector, if he has been found, accompanies the Prime - for the first several decavorns, they are usually rarely-parted as their own bond settles.

_ Optimus faced no less than seventeen assassination attempts during his Tour, not including the ones Jazz and Megatron managed to prevent before they could reach the point of attempt. Two in Crystal City, one in Vos, three in Simfur, one in Kaon - six in Praxus, despite the city’s famed enforcers. Two attempts were made against the caravan during transit, and a bomb was planted on the Shuttle that took them across the Rust Sea - but with all of that, the sniper that nearly killed the Prime outside the gates of Iacon came the closest to succeeding. _

_ Other than that, though, the Tour was a widely-celebrated success. Megatron curbed the worst of the nobility’s excesses - a stern and disapproving figure well-known for his travellings in Iacon’s noble circles - and Optimus was met by wide-spread populist approval, the first commoner-Prime in several generations. He visited temples in every major city, not typical, but a show of good faith and willingness to accept divine guidance that in the wake of a less-religious Primacy reassured many doubts that his common background might leave him a less-capable Prime. _

There’s a lot of pomp and circumstance as the Tour returns to Iacon. It is the true beginning of the Prime’s reign in the optics of many scholars, though he’s been ruling for well over thirty decavorns by that point - he has full political and religious authority, and has been made familiar with the tools at his disposal to wield that authority. From there, there’s still a long way to mature into the position - it can be centivorns before everything calms down and settles into a rhythm - but the Primacy is assured and Cybertron once again is fully-governed by a Prime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The term tandem originally comes from the latin word, tandem, meaning the last in a line; it moved to english to describe tandem-teamed horses, referring to the last horse before the cart. It evolved to describe any set of parts working as a whole, and for the Protectobots, who would be not only the last Primes of Cybertron but also the first and only Gestalt Prime, it is literally the _perfect name_. I’m not even sorry for bringing it up here again. It’s so fucking funny. I’m more proud of this one pun than I am of most of the actual things I’ve written.
> 
> There may be some inconsistencies between things I post as replies to questions, and things I post in these little sections - assume comments!me doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talking about, she’s an idiot. But seriously, these are really me just fleshing things out, I didn’t have any of this thought out a week ago, so it’s sort of a patchwork as I try to set up a functioning government that might work in the context of a more political-drama oriented set of stories.
> 
> Also, I desperately want to do a set of shorter vignettes covering Jazz’s initial interactions with Optimus and Megatron. I love super-competent Jazz, and at this point, he hasn’t met Prowl - who they pick up in Praxus in the course of dealing with those _six fucking assassinations_ \- so I’d like to do something where it’s a single shot of him hearing about/getting ready for the new Prime’s arrival, then a mid-length story about him uncovering plots against the Prime and deciding to go to Megatron, a short one with him interacting with Megatron, and then him meeting Optimus for the first time low-key expecting he’s gonna get killed (and him kneeling to the Prime hits allllll my buttons so :3), and then a multi-chapter dealing with Praxus.
> 
> Fuuuck me. I just… I love Jazz so much. I want to write about him always.
> 
> Next chapter for this... IDK, give me ideas if you read through all this. I want to do a chapter on the Prime and Protector's day-to-day role, since I've kept these two chapters more on their selection, and maybe on the Hand of the Prime and how that came about, but beyond that I could use ya thoughts, thots.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're in the list of folks I gifted this to, sorry, I just figured out how to do that and promptly went mad with power. IDK what it does besides make it easier for folks to find your name, but HMU if it does something annoying on your end. I probably put you there if I rec'd your fic or you commented and left a question that set me off; I probs brought it up in a chapter summary.


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